Thomas D'Alesandro Jr.

Thomas Ludwig John D'Alesandro Jr. (1 August 1903-23 August 1987) was a member of the US House of Representatives (D-MD 3) from 3 January 1939 to 16 May 1947 (succeeding Vincent Palmisano and preceding Edward Garmatz) and Mayor of Baltimore from 16 May 1947 to 16 May 1959 (succeeding Theodore McKeldin and preceding J. Harold Grady). He was the father of Mayor Thomas D'Alesandro III and Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi.

Biography
Thomas Ludwig John D'Alesandro Jr. was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1903 to Italian immigrants from Montenerodomo, Abruzzo. He worked as an insurance and real estate broker before serving as a Democratic member of the House of Delegates from 1926 to 1933, a member of the Baltimore City Council from 1935 to 1938, a member of the US House of Representatives from 1939 to 1947, and Mayor of Baltimore from 1947 to 1959. D'Alesandro was also seen as a strong candidate for Governor of Maryland in 1954, but he was forced to suspend his campaign due to his receipt of undeclared money from a parking garage owner; he was exonerated of corruption charges, but he lost his 1958 US Senate bid and in his 1959 mayoral bid. He died in Baltimore in 1987 at the age of 84.